Bean-separating machine



April 5, i927;

J. H. RUTTLE BEAN SEPARATING MACHINE Filed May 19. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'V 1,62 '5 Aprll 5, 1927. Y J H. RUTTLEY 327 BEAN SEPARATING MAGHI-NE Filed Ma'y 19. 1924 2 Sheets-sheep 2 FW, Z,

Patented Apr. 5, 1927. I

marre.v

JOHN H. RUTTLE, OF' CARSONVILEf MICH-IGHN 'i Y B13A-n-sr:iazatian'rme` MACHINE.

v suitable receptacle.

Hit'herto for such purpose it has been known to v use a pair of rolls arranged to form a runway for the beans and arranged for inward rotation in respect to such beans whereby certain lof them would be gripped and drawn between the said rolls thereby being rejected from the runway whilst the good beans, being smooth and not liable to be so gripped by the rolls, continue to pass down. the runway to a suitable receptacle.

It has been found in: practice that in machines of such type, andl in the several other types of bean separating devices as hitherd toltnown, economy in the selection of the beans was not being adequately secured, as considerable waste resulted in the rejection of good beans or the retention of poor beans to an undesirable extent.

In the inwardly rotating, roll type of machine referred?y to, vit has been very difficult to prevent the gripping.4 of good' beans which it was not desired to reject from the runway, and this objection could only be minimizedY by very Vtine adjustment ofv the speed'. and. spacing ofthe rolls and the use ofgparticul'arly suitable. material in the rolls themselves.. j f' Itis, therefore, the. principal object of this invention toy provide a formV of separator which willA admit of considerably more! accurate selection of the beans andy in which@ the surface characteristics of the .beans will: play a, greater partiin governing such.k selection;

`whereby. the separation of beans lwill' be ef-` fected.. by the., lifting ofthe poor, beansupwardly from the bed. of` the runway whilst permittingthe good?.v beans topass down the said runwaynand it is a' still further object to pro-vide for the interception ofbeans which may` bey lifted by the act-ion of the runway rolls as they pass above the runway, and. to effect the' rejection. of such. beans whenfsoi'ntercepted.

A .still` further object is to reduce the height which. a bean. must be raised',. in order. to .be rejected.V from 4the runway,. moreor less in'.proportionr to the; extent toi which Vit Application filed May 19,

It isV also an` object to provide means 1,924. Serial- No. 7145330.

lia's'ipassedy down the said runwaywliereby initial retention of a'bean in'theupperjparts i,6.2.3 ,2p l

omer..

of the said runway may in some cases be` folclined to form a runway for beans suitably fed tothe upper part of said rollsmeans bejing provided to effect the rotationoutward'- ly of the said rolls whereby saiob rolls vwill have a tendency to lift up and' carry over from the runway any beans which,.the natureof their exterior, tend to. adhere to the surface of'one. or the other ofthe rolls;

and, to further facilitate they selecting and rejectioiroffsuch beans itis proposedito prof vide a seriesy of baffles bridging. the said rolls andi arranged to permit. normalpas.- sage of beans down the,v said. runway whilst intercepting. beans which are lifted to' any appreciable extent by the act/ion ofthe rolls, such. interception assisting inl the` rejection `of such beansgvand. it is still( further'iproposedf to provide suchbalfles wilthrforwairdly so v extending center. portions, or to use. baffles of. asubstantially Vlshape;` whereby the. lrejecting of defectivebeans-willA be still fur- .ther facilitated.` All ofl which ismore particularly described and ascertained? lherein-` afteigbyjway of example; having. reference 1 to the accompanying dra-wings in which-+1- Figure l is a. fragmentary side elevation of a bean separator embodying the .said invention-A but having the baflles--remov'e'dg Fig.A Qlis aplanviewof tliesamfe with the feed mechanism, removedand alsoshowing the `baiileson one sideof. the machineonfly;

Fig... 3' is aY transverse section loffthe malcli-ine taken. onthe line xr-S, 2;- j

Fig..t isY a detailfplan view-of apair. of

rolls forming` a runwayv with -the.batiies mounted. in the frameof the machine, andr Fig, 5 isA across sectionl ofthe same taken yon thedlinel. 5R95?, Fig, 4.. f

Simi-lar eharactera of referfence\indifcaft'e` 60V @rolls are rotating, but vinV the case ofbeans l Simiiapaas iii the Several figaresgof the Vdrawing and Figs. 4 and 5 are drawn to a larger scale than are Figs. 1, 2 and "1 is a frame in which vis journal'ed a main l i #The rShaft-)7, 2 `effects. the

ksep'filrfatng mechalsmabcuttolbe described, and` theShafts Sand 9 eii'ect the Operation of shaftf2 carrying va pulley 8 and having er mountedfthereona series of bevel'gears 11" and also a spur gear 5 whichin turn meshes withV further gears 6 and?. Y gears are mounted uponshafts 8 and 9jour-VV These latter naled in. thesaid frame.

operation of theY fthe feedV mechanisin. This mechanism is Vshownas-comprisinga series Vof 'drums 10 having a plurality of recesses 11 in their rpeiipheries, leach recess being preferably Y VVVproportioned to receive one bean ata time 'froma'hopper 12 superimposed above the jsaiddrums 11 and having suitable openings thereinlto permit of the passage of beans into i the recesses in said drum. .1

'Beneath eachseries of drums carried by Y the ,shafts 8 and@ are small hoppers or receivers13 and' 14 having restricted outlets 15 corresponding to each of the drums, so, A that as the beans successively fall from theV said drums into the receivers 13 and 14 they may escape :therefrom at certain 'definite points dependent upon the positions of the outlets 15. Y

` -`1Pairs'offinclined.rolls'lfand 17 are arranged beneath each of the said outlets 15, ,theupper ends ofthe said pairs of rolls hfbeing'adjacent said outlets, and connected Y, `bymeshed gears 18 and 19. .One of the rolls '.ofeachcpair of gears vhas an extended shaft y 20. 'which carries a bevel pinionv 21 meshing Y j with'oneofthefbevelfgears 4 on the main shaft 2in suchmanner that the rotation of -fthesaidshaft 2in the ydirection indicated by "i Jtheparrow'i'n Figs.' 2 and 3 will result in the rotationi'of the ,pairs of rolls'outwardly or i VVthought necessary or desirable. j Y* i Itwi'll'be apparent thatthe different pairs Yniient of the length' `of theV said `of rolls form runways for thebeans which :"fall fromv the 0pening's15 of theV receiverl,

andfit willbealso understood (and may be .duly ascertained ,byv experiment) that beans having .dryY surfaces may pass down such runways without Amuch interference as the having,rough damp, /or more or "lessV adj' vhesive Vsurfaces such as are encountered 4in Y V- poorVbea-ns, these Vvwill be lifted from the t V 77675* i ed yoff the runway, (the bed being,A ofcourse,

the contiguous .parts ofthe two rolls), and

may be completely carriedover the crest of one or the other of the rolls by such adhesive action.v l' f l Thev lifting eect may vary for dilierent beans, some being'less liable to be so rejectedfrom the runway than others and in order to secure closer rejection I maytaper the rolls downwardly, or toward their lower endsV as illustrated, whereby beans' which yhave not been lifted suihciently to passV over the rolls `in the upper stages of the runway thereof, as a result of the reduced height above the axes of therrolls to vwhichithey are required' to be liftedv due to vthe tapered nature of said rolls.y i y Y It will be seen that with the tapered' rolls may still be rejected in the lower stages Y the axes of the two rolls constituting a pair are converged towards their 'lower end in orderrtc maintain' the meeting faces oftheY rolls parallel.

25 is a largeV hopper which is situated beneath the rolls and adapted to receive the rejected beans thrown therefrom and 26 and 27 are chutes forming a common hopper rhaving an outlet 28 and opening in proximity to the lower ends of the said rolls to receive the good beans which have passed completely down the runway, not having been lifted sufficiently in theirV travelv onthe vby the ac-Y.

same to be thrown over the rolls tion thereof into 'the hopper 25.

In order to assist inthe selective action ofthe rolls, I propose to provide each pair of rolls `with a series of baiies 29. These are shown as being carried by bars 30 forming part of the said framework 22and bridge the rolls 16 and 17, the said Vbaiiies being so Y Y shaped as to leave only a restricted opening Slbeneath each of them `through which beans lmay'trav'el from the runway formedbyV the said rolls, so that `itvwill be apparent thatif a ybean does not remain upon the bed ofv the runway when traveling downthesame and is lifted beyondav certain extent bythe Y action ofthe rolls forming the run'w'ay,'it 'l will impinge against one or other of the said baffles 29'which will increase the tendency to 115 throw the bean over the roll `into the hopper V25. This action may be still'furtherl facilitated by making the center portions 'of the said battles so that they extend forwardly and more or less upwardly' in opposition to the downward travel of the beans,`the battlesinthe drawings being illustrated as of a V= shaped configuration with their spaces eX- tending .forwardly over the vcenters lof the I'llllWayS.

It will beV apparent that many different- Vmaterials may be employed in said? rolls ac- Y cording to circumstances' and requirements and that the nature of the surfaceof the rolls may be Varied according to the. c0ndi r Y Y Y tions which they have tormeet;v and it 'will parting from the essential features of the said invention and it is desired that the specification and drawings be read as being. ,merely illustrative and not in a limiting sense except as necessitated by the prior art.

l/Vhat I claim is 1. In a bean separating machine of the class described, a pair of inclined rolls arranged side by side, said rolls being tapered towards the lower ends and the axes thereof converged to'maintain parallel relation between vthe meeting faces of the said rolls thereby forming a runway, feeding mechanism at the upper ends of said rolls, and

means rotating said rolls outwardly with respect one to the other, whei'eby beans having rough lor adhesive surfaces are lifted over said rolls. l

2. In a bean separating machine, a runway comprising a pair of inclined rolls, having outward rotation, and a series of baffles bridging said rolls whereby beans traveling down said runway are lifted by the outward rotary action of said rolls and deiiected therefrom, for the purposes specified.

3. In a bean separating machine, a runway comprising a pair ofinclined rolls tapered downwardly, the opposed faces of said rolls being parallel and rotating outwardly, and a series of baiiies bridging said rolls and adapted to intercept-and deflect therefrom beans which may be lifted by the outward rotary action thereof while passing v down said runway.`

4. In a bean separatingl machine, a runway comprising a pair of inclined rolls, havdown said runway and lifted by the outwardY rotaryaction of said rolls are deflected therefrom, the center portions of said bafiies eX- tending forwardly in opposition to the travel of beans down said runway.

5. In a bean separating machine, a runing outward rotation, and a series of baiiies bridging said rolls whereby beans traveling way comprising a pair of inclined outwardly i' rotating rolls and a series of bean intercepting and deflecting V-shaped baffles bridging said rolls and arranged with theirapices towards the receiving end of said runway, the apices of said baffles having a limited clear ance above said runway. Y

6. In a bean separating machine, a runway comprising a pair of inclined rolls tapered downwardly, the opposed faces of said rolls being parallel and rotating outwardly, and a series of baffles bridging said rolls and having their center portions extending forwardly towards the receiving end of said runway, andhaving a definitely restricted clearance above the center part of said runway.

In testimony whereo-f I aiiix my signature.

JOHN H. RUTTLE. 

